Galway head south hurting from Shel’s defeat

Galway FC make the long trek to Ferrycarrig Park tomorrow for an SSE Airtricity League first division encounter with Wexford Youths, who currently occupy second place in the table.

Wexford have made an encouraging start to the campaign, winning three of their six matches, and Galway boss Tommy Dunne is expecting a difficult contest in the southeast.

“It will be a tough game for us in Wexford. They are a team that are playing quite well. They are ready and right.

“When you go to Wexford you have to be clued in. We need to pick up three points in a game like that. Defensively we have to make sure we don’t get done and we need to get the goals at the other end.”

A failure to convert against Shelbourne at Eamonn Deacy Park last Friday proved costly for Galway as the Dubliners pounced for a last-gasp Dylan Connolly goal. It was an extremely harsh defeat for Galway, but Dunne is adamant his players can respond in the coming weeks.

“These games are going to be tight against the top teams. We did enough to win the match. It is as simple and as straightforward as that - between chances, territory, and possession. We were the better team, but we didn’t go home with the points and that is a disappointing fact.

“It is going to be nip and tuck in important matches. There will be chances here and there. Just getting the finish is what you need. We just couldn’t get somebody on the end of what we created against Shelbourne. Then conceding so late on is tough. We were bitterly disappointed. For us we were looking at getting three points and we should have got them.”

Dunne wants Galway to be more clinical. “I think we outplayed Shelbourne, but you have to be careful. You have to make sure that when you outplay a team, you get your just reward.

“I don’t think we had too many clearcut chances, but there were plenty of occasions when the ball was bouncing around the box. Trying to get somebody on the end was tough and we were unlucky a few times. We were close, we hit the post, the keeper made an unbelievable save.

“We were bitterly disappointed, we should have picked up something from the game. It’s not a panic situation, but we want to be there or thereabouts. It is disappointing we didn’t get the finish.”

Ryan Connolly's left-footed set pieces were a feature of the Shelbourne tussle, but Galway were unable to take advantage of the decent deliveries supplied by the Ballyglass native. Dunne wants to rectify this soon too. “Set pieces and the deliveries were exceptional. We just didn’t have the bit of desire needed maybe to get on the end of one of them. Sometimes things can just bounce for you a little bit like the Shels’ goal. My lads were excellent against Shels, they went after the game from the word go, but getting done at the end was a bitter pill to take.”

Derek O'Brien's timely return from suspension provides Dunne with another wide option as Galway seek to finish the first series of games with a victory that is both craved and needed.